The Patriots' seven-point win in Miami on Sunday wasn't as entertaining as the juggernaut blowouts that preceded it, but it was probably even more important.

The clinching of the AFC East? Not a big deal, although as coach Bill Belichick said to reporters postgame, “It's always good to get one.”

It was the way they got it that meant something.

As Tom Brady said, after being asked by a reporter about an ugly win, “Oh, that wasn't ugly,” breaking into a big smile. “That was a great win.”

Defense doesn't really win championships, not anymore. You need a great passing game and a well-timed hot streak to win it all, and there's not a whole lot of debate about it.

But you need to be at least pretty good on the defensive side of the ball – and the Patriots were very good Sunday, maybe as good as they have been all season.

It was refreshing to see the Patriots win a game the way they would have in 2003 or 2004, sticking with the run, playing small ball, overcoming a slow day for the offense by allowing just 16 points and 15 first downs.

When Brady and the offense struggled early this year against Arizona and Seattle, the defense couldn't pick up the slack; Sunday, they led the charge. And if you're a Patriots fan with your eye on the prize, that's a very good thing.

Five other things we learned as the Patriots wrapped up the AFC East title for the 10th time in 12 seasons (they lost tiebreakers in 2002 and 2008):

New England has been strong in the trenches for the entire span of the Belichick Era, always able to keep that area solid despite a lot of personnel turnover and plenty of guys that were hardly blue-chippers.

On Sunday, the likes of Nick McDonald, Donald Thomas and Ryan Wendell held their own on the offensive line while Brandon Deaderick and Trevor Scott filled in for Jermaine Cunningham and Chandler Jones on defense.

And then, of course, there's Vince Wilfork, who has been so good this year that he's even made his wife famous. Wilfork isn't a Hall of Famer yet, but a couple more deep runs in the playoffs gets him in the conversation fast.

It's easy to say that the Patriots don't miss Gronk that much, seeing as they rolled up 49 points without him on Thanksgiving.

But his absence was clearly felt on Sunday, even though Hernandez had 97 yards on eight catches.

Hernandez makes great plays in the open field, stuff that no other TE in the league comes close to doing. It's the things he doesn't do that drive you a little crazy – like finish off easy catches, or block with the type of excellence that Gronkowski does.

Quarterbacks Andrew Luck, Mark Sanchez and Ryan Tannehill all struggled the last three weeks, with only some fourth-quarter stat padding in each game making the numbers even respectable.

It seems clear that the combo of Steve Gregory and Devin McCourty is working in the middle of the field, and rookie Alfonzo Dennard has been making steady strides.

The Patriots' secondary held Tannehill to under 50 percent completions on Sunday, and while Miami's passing game is one of the worst in the league, that didn't stop guys like Kevin Kolb, Sanchez and Ryan Fitzpatrick looking like superstars earlier in the season.

Brady finished with a passer rating of 74.8 on Sunday, the type of number that is associated with the Sanchezes of the world. But you can't convince me that Brady didn't have a perfect game. He missed on a couple of deep balls, as he's prone to do, but with a banged-up O-line he led the Patriots to 25 first downs against an impressive-looking Miami defense.

It's Brady's decision making that elevates him from a Pro Bowler to an all-time legend, and it's the mistakes he doesn't make that really impresses. He never forced anything he didn't have, and kept making the quick throws to Wes Welker and Hernandez when he needed to.

In winning his ninth straight AFC East title (the lone miss was in 2008 under Matt Cassel), Brady made the one risky throw, and it took a brilliant play by Miami's Reshad Jones to turn it into a turnover.

Sometimes you don't play as well as your numbers suggest, sometimes the statistics are right on. But in Brady's case on Sunday, they weren't even close.

This isn't a knock on Welker, who is really one of the most productive and unique players in the game's history. But every time the guy has one bounce of his pads, it's, “Well, there's something that you almost never see.”

Except that Welker is in the top 10 in drops with seven this season – understandable, considering how often he's thrown to – but, still, not a rarity. (And, of course, he made the biggest drop in franchise history back in February, as you may recall.)

Welker has above-average hands, but it's his route-running and his quickness/toughness that make him special. When you get to be a great player, NFL announcers tend to give you credit for being awesome at everything, even if it's not so true.